Pubs play host to Obama parties

Pubs were at the centre of celebrations for UK-based Barack Obama supporters as the Illinois senator swept to victory in the US election in the early hours of this morning.

As history was being made on the other side of the Atlantic, American ex-pats, friends and interested observers were out in force in England's pubs and bars to raise a toast to America's first black President.

At the Punch-owned Hoop and Toy, in South Kensington, London, an ObamaWatch party was hosted by the group Americans Away from Home.

Around 300 Democrat supporters filled the pub's three floors as screens beamed out the results via CNN and the BBC.

Nigel Corcoran, the pub's manager, said the party had been a great experience and the tills had kept ringing all night. "Once the announcement was made we uncorked quite a few bottles of champagne as well," he said. "The hardcore didn't leave until 9am so I'm a bit knackered."

However, one over-excited supporter upset a GMTV camera crew when he streaked across the camera during an early morning live link-up with the pub.

Meanwhile at the Light Bar, in Shoreditch, East London, around 500 people, mainly Obama supporters crammed in to cheer the results as key swing states fell in the Democrats' favour.

Manager Anne Mahoney said the atmosphere had been "buzzing" and the pub had done "very well".

And just down the road in Shoreditch, at the East Room bar, Australians, Scots and Canadians joined Americans eager to celebrate Obama's historic victory.

But it was not only the capital that was hit by election fever. On Humberside, at the King William IV, in Cottingham, students from the University of Hull, packed into the pub to watch history unfold.